Deputy commander-in-chief of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Major General Guam Maw (center L), shakes hands with a senior Myanmar military official (R) as they meet for talks in Myitkyina, in Kachin state capital on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Myanmar’s government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), representatives of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), on Tuesday resumed peace talks in Myikyina, Kachin, in northern Myanmar. The negotiations are scheduled for 3 days. On the first day of the negotiation, both sides will discuss opening an office of Civilian-Military Cooperation (CMC) and other armed forces-related issues. This is the first time Thein Sein’s government and the Kachin rebels have conducted peace talks in Myanmar. Previous rounds of talks were held in Thailand on February 20 and in China on February 2 and March 12. The talks seek an end to a conflict that has displaced tens of thousands of people in Kachin since June, 2011. Despite a ceasefire fighting occurred in this area, the army arrested a rebel leader near the border with China.